Hreflang Checker
Free · 30 Seconds · Instant Results
Automatically audit your hreflang implementation. Detect missing x-default tags, wrong locale codes, asymmetric pairs, and 6 other critical international SEO issues.
🔍 Check My Site for Free →No sign-up · Works with Shopify, WordPress & any site
What Hreflang Issues Do We Check?
The SEO Radar X free tool scans your hreflang implementation and checks for these 6 critical error types:
No fallback page specified for users whose language matches nothing — Google doesn't know which version to show.
Using "cn" or "zh" instead of the correct "zh-CN" causes Google to ignore the tag entirely.
Page A links to page B, but page B doesn't link back to page A — the entire hreflang group becomes invalid.
Hreflang tags pointing to 404s or redirected URLs are ignored by Google, breaking your international targeting.
Every page must include an hreflang tag pointing to itself — missing this invalidates the whole hreflang group.
Mixing http/https or www/non-www makes Google treat them as different pages, splitting your ranking signals.
How Do Hreflang Tags Work?
Hreflang tags are <link> elements placed in the HTML <head> that tell Google the relationship between different language/region versions of the same page. Each hreflang tag contains two key attributes:
The critical rule: hreflang tags must be reciprocal — every referenced page must also point back to your page. This means if your English page references your Chinese page, the Chinese page must also contain hreflang tags pointing back to the English page.
Hreflang for Shopify & WordPress Stores
Shopify
- ✓Add hreflang tags in theme.liquid inside the <head> section
- ✓Shopify Markets auto-generates some hreflang tags
- ✓Still manually check that x-default is correctly set
- ✓Note: Shopify language paths are typically /zh-CN/ not /zh/
WordPress
- ✓Use Yoast SEO or Rank Math to auto-handle hreflang
- ✓WPML plugin provides full multilingual + hreflang support
- ✓Polylang is a lighter multilingual alternative
- ✓Still audit after setup — plugin misconfiguration is common
Real Shopify Hreflang Problems — And How to Fix Them
These are real scenarios from cross-border Shopify sellers — each one could be silently hurting your Google rankings:
Not sure which scenario applies to your store? Run a free 30-second audit to automatically diagnose all hreflang issues.
Free Hreflang Check for My Shopify Store →Hreflang by the Numbers
Of multilingual websites have at least one hreflang configuration error (Ahrefs research)
Time for Google to reflect new hreflang changes — the sooner you fix, the better
Hreflang issues SEO Radar X checks: x-default, locale codes, symmetry, broken URLs & more
Audit Your Hreflang Setup Now
SEO Radar X runs 30 checks including full hreflang analysis — x-default, locale codes, reciprocal pairs & more. Results in 30 seconds.
Run Free Hreflang Audit →Frequently Asked Questions
My Shopify store uses the same English content for US (en-us) and UK (en-gb) with different currencies. Will Google treat this as duplicate content?
Yes, this is a real risk. If both versions have identical content with only currency differences and no correct hreflang="en-US" / hreflang="en-GB" tags, Google may treat them as duplicates and split their ranking signals. The fix: each regional version needs complete reciprocal hreflang tags (pointing to each other) plus a canonical tag pointing to its own localized URL. Run a free SEO Radar X audit to confirm your hreflang tags are correctly implemented in 30 seconds.
After opening a Canada store (en-ca) with Shopify Markets, Canadian users still see my US store (en-us) in Google. Is x-default misconfigured?
Likely yes — either hreflang="en-CA" is missing or x-default is wrong. Shopify Markets auto-generates some hreflang tags but doesn't always get them right. Troubleshoot: 1) Check your Canada store's <head> for a hreflang="en-CA" self-reference; 2) Confirm your US store has a hreflang="en-CA" tag pointing to the Canada store; 3) Verify x-default points to your primary target market (usually en-US). Note: Google takes 2–4 weeks to reflect hreflang changes.
GSC shows "Alternative page without matching language" — what does this mean and will it hurt my US store's ranking?
This error means Google found hreflang tags on your page but couldn't find matching reciprocal tags on the referenced pages (asymmetric tags). It won't directly lower rankings, but it makes Google ignore all hreflang for that page group — so ranking signals may split across language versions instead of consolidating. Fix: ensure every page in a hreflang group has complete two-way tags. SEO Radar X automatically detects all asymmetric tag pairs in your audit.
I installed an auto-translate plugin for German and French, but Ahrefs shows the German pages are stealing rankings from my US store. Is this a hreflang issue?
Yes — this is classic hreflang misconfiguration causing keyword cannibalization. Auto-translate plugins frequently generate incorrect hreflang. Diagnose: 1) Check whether German pages use hreflang="de-DE" (not just hreflang="de"); 2) Verify canonical tags point to the correct language version; 3) In GSC, find keywords where both language versions have rankings. SEO Radar X detects hreflang configuration errors in 30 seconds without needing technical expertise.
How can I check whether my hreflang tags are working correctly for free, without buying any plugins?
3 free methods: 1) SEO Radar X (recommended): enter your URL, get full hreflang analysis in 30 seconds — x-default, locale code format, asymmetric pairs, all covered; 2) Chrome DevTools: right-click → View Page Source, Ctrl+F search "hreflang" and manually check all tags; 3) Google Search Console: go to Pages → Excluded, look for "Alternative page without matching language" errors. SEO Radar X is the fastest and requires no technical background.
What is an hreflang tag?
Hreflang is a <link> attribute placed in the HTML <head> that tells Google which language and region each page version targets. Google uses it to serve the correct language version to users in different countries, preventing duplicate content penalties across multilingual sites.
What is x-default in hreflang, and do I need it?
x-default specifies which page to show when no other hreflang value matches the user's language/region. Example: <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/en/" />. It typically points to your primary market or generic English version. Missing x-default is one of the most common hreflang errors on Shopify stores — SEO Radar X checks for this automatically.
For Shopify international stores, which causes fewer hreflang errors: multi-domain or subfolder (/en-gb/)?
Subfolders generally have lower error rates: 1) All language versions share one domain, making hreflang reciprocal links easier to maintain; 2) Domain authority consolidates; 3) Shopify Markets' subfolder setup is relatively standardized. Multi-domain risk: every domain needs independent hreflang cross-references, and if any domain updates without syncing the others, the entire hreflang group breaks. If you're already using subfolders, run an SEO Radar X audit to confirm the configuration is correct.